Shanghai university launches new AI plus polymers platform

A research team from the Shanghai-based East China University of Science and Technology announced the release of the AI plus Polymers v3.0 platform, contributing to the shift in China's material research and development from traditional trial-and-error methods to an era of intelligent, precision-driven design.

The platform caters to the diverse R&D needs of polymer materials, offering comprehensive upgrades in data, models, and algorithms. It boasts a database of 7.6 million specialized entries, over 80 AI models, and more than 10 polymer-specific algorithms. These enhancements facilitate the intelligent design of high-performance resins, organic optoelectronic materials, and composite materials through a more advanced human-computer interaction model, according to the researchers.

Since pioneering AI-empowered polymer research in the country in 2013, the team has established a new research paradigm known as "AI for polymers", with complete proprietary intellectual property rights.

The researchers said that, since the initial release of the platform in March 2023, it has been adopted by over 10 aerospace institutes and more than 60 chemical new material enterprises nationwide.

Developed based on this paradigm, new materials — such as high-performance resins and advanced conductive adhesives — have already been put into industrial use. Notably, a type of high-temperature resistant, high-toughness, and easily processable resin has been used in key components of aerospace and advanced equipment, the team said.

"Our team's vision is to expand the new AI paradigm to broader fields, including polymer structural materials, functional materials, and biomedical materials," Lin Jiaping, a lead scientist on the team, said. "Also, we aim to comprehensively empower the design and development of polymer materials and promote the digitalization of the industry through AI."